Friday, October 05, 2007

I’ve been so tied up with mounds and mounds of work lately; it’s hard to imagine the amount of stress I’ve gone through. My sleeping hours are now non-existent to the point that 4am doesn’t seem so late anymore while 2am signifies that the night is still young. If I’ve been staying up - finishing up work or just wasting time away, figuring how to finish up that work - till 4am, there’s always the option of sleeping at around 5.30am and not being able to make it to class, or rather not sleep at all, where you’re able to make it to class, albeit attending class reminiscent to the ‘Night of the Living Dead’ - and this if I may add, happens every single day.

Well, I'm just learning to take it a day at a time.…...

Are the band, the Hours, worth an hour of your time? Well, for starters the band formed way back in 2004, and has only just released a debut LP, Narcissus Road earlier this year but with a joint resume of both members boasting some of the finest lines of music work they have ever created with some pretty big names, this group might just be worth more than just an hour of your time.

‘Ali in the Jungle’ is no doubt one of the most amazingly remarkable tunes I’ve heard in quite a while, moreover due to how the intro highly brings to mind of New Order’s ‘Ceremony’, makes it a song that I can’t simply take no notice of. The prominent artwork of a skull by British artist Damien Hirst gracing the cover arts as well as their video instantly gives you the impression of a dark, looming, threatening feel. But after listening to the song, you’re sure to discover that their music bears no resemblance to all things gruesome and grisly. Trodden with jangly piano whilst propelled by hazy dissolving hooks and spattered with traces of a dark and brooding mood, it’s a tune you’ll easily get smitten by even at the first listen. Just be sure to keep your ears peeled at all times and see if you can catch references made to cultural figures such as Nelson Mandela and Ludwig Van Beethoven.

So, are the Hours worth an hour of your time? Well, as Jarvis Cocker would blatantly put it, “Let them into your life – you won’t regret it”.